What's left afterwards
by Cassiopeia's
Summary: "God, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and with it the fist that had been twisting her gut for weeks now but especially intense the last twenty four hours, finally let loose. - Bits and pieces that take place right after the events of Iron Man 2.
1. (i)

What's left afterwards  


(i)

They were all exhausted. She still couldn't believe she had let Tony talk her into leaving cleanup for everyone else. It really wasn't like her but once he had finally agreed to let Tony take her down from that roof because there wasn't another way he had quietly told her that he was incredibly tired. The way he had said the words, how is voice had sounded had instantly alerted her and her mind quickly repeated the conversation between Natasha and Tony she had overheard. And while she had always been professional and usually did everything the right way there was something that was more important to her than anything else and that was her eccentric boss Tony Stark.

Besides that she had quickly decided that she could handle everything from afar via emails and calls anyway and Tony wasn't stinky rich for nothing. Therefore she had told him to take them wherever he wanted and that she'd take care of anything else all the while she tried not to throw up because flying really was not her thing.

Now, as she stood in the kitchen of his Malibu home which was still partly destroyed, she was glad that she had let him get them home a few hours ago. She had barely slept because she was still feeling all kinds of fired up and had spent the few hours since their arrival on the phone with her laptop on her knees. She had instantly sent Tony to bed and had not seen him since.

Preparing herself a cup of coffee, Pepper's mind went back to the moment on the roof. In retrospective she could say that the almost shy way in which he had kissed her last night on that roof, right after he had saved her from an exploding robot, had been something entirely unexpected for him. As long as she'd known him Tony Stark had never been one to be shy and unsure around a woman. In all those years he had bedded so many of them that she wasn't able to count anymore. Of course he tried to get her into his bed many times as well, but Pepper, always the professional one, rejected him every single time and reminded him to stay appropriate around her and miraculously, someday his hitting on her had mostly stopped.

What Pepper never counted on was her own feelings and how they would betray her own attitude someday. Somewhere between caring for him, organizing his public and private life, Pepper fell in love with her eccentric, entirely too self-absorbed boss, who took her for much too granted. When he came back from Afghanistan, things changed. She still loved him very much, but somehow there were less women and he seemed more focused on the really important things.

After the last week, in which she'd run Stark Industries, he fell right back into his old habits, behaved like his old self again and even though things between them hadn't really changed, it still hurt to see him like that. But seeing how easily he had Natasha replace her had hurt more than anything else. So after all this pain and stress and finding out about him almost dying from some kind of poisoning last night, Pepper really couldn't believe how gently, caringly and shyly he had kissed her.

Pepper wondered what that meant, if it meant anything at all. It was why she had instantly started explaining herself when Rhodey had interrupted them but curiously enough Tony had not seemed to be making a big deal out of Rhodey's witnessing which could either mean that he simply didn't care or that he was actually comfortable. Considering how he had taken her hands into his metal clad once afterwards and had smiled sweetly at her Pepper almost tended to think the moment had meant something to him as well which was a dangerous thought.

"Care to make it two?"

Tony's rough, sleepy voice startled her out of her thoughts and she whirled around to face him.

"Hey," she greeted.

He was only wearing flannel pants, his chest bare and purple with bruises. Apparently he hadn't had the strength to clean himself up and had gone straight to bed. Pepper gasped as she took in the dark lines all around his arc reactor.

"It looks worse than it actually is," he said gently and smiled disarmingly at her. "I swear I'm fine."

She nodded and averted her eyes, swallowing against the lump in her throat. How close had she actually come to losing him? He could have died and the last thing she would have said to him-

"Pepper, breathe."

Her eyes jumped to his because he was suddenly right in front of her. His hands had found her shoulders and gently forced her out of her own mind. She swallowed and gasped and took a few shuddering breathes.

When he was sure she was alright again, Tony let his hands run down her arms only to entwine his fingers with hers.

Her heart started beating faster and she nervously bit her lips as she gazed at him. Since they were both barefoot they were pretty much eye to eye level.

"Are you sure you really are going to be okay?", she asked quietly, trying not to ruin the moment.

He nodded, his eyes still meeting hers, letting her see the truth. "I invented a new element the reactor can run with which doesn't kill me," he explained, letting go of her left hand to touch the glowing triangle in his chest. "I promise I'm gonna be alright."

With a grin and a wink he added, "I'm a genius, Pep. I know what I'm doing."

She couldn't help but grin in response and snorted a little. "Right."

He pouted indignantly, but smiled after another moment and gently pulled a strand of her strawberry red hair behind her left her. Self-consciously, Pepper dropped her gaze and unconsciously leaned forward to rest her head against his chin which made Tony wrap his arms around her in a hug. They had embraced before but this was different. It was warm, sweet and comforting and she knew he enjoyed the closeness just as much as she did. Slowly, she wrapped her own arms around his back and moved her head a little so it could rest against his warm neck instead, causing him to tighten his embrace. He smelled like sweat, metal and grime and yet, Pepper couldn't find herself to care one bit.

"God, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and with it the fist that had been twisting her gut for weeks now but especially intense the last twenty four hours, finally let loose.

"Likewise," Tony muttered against her the top of her head, his lips almost caressing. Her fingers dug a little into the skin of his back in her attempt to pull him still closer.

"I feel the need to inform you that I am pleased to see you and Miss Potts to be well too, Mr. Stark, sir," Jarvis suddenly piped up, making Pepper chuckle and Tony let out a groan. With one last squeeze Pepper finally moved out of his arms and smiled at him.

"You should take a shower and then let me tend to your wounds," she suggested.

He smirked. "Can't wait to get your hands on me, can you, Potts?"

She swatted him with a roll of her eyes and moved away from him but before she was entirely out of his reach, Tony stopped her with his hand on her waist. And then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers, his mouth smiling.

Pepper's eyes instantly fell shut and she felt her mind blank for a moment, taking in the feeling of his full lips and his goatee tickling her face. It felt just as good as last night, maybe even a little better because now there wasn't the imminent danger of death in the back of their heads. Instead, they seemed to have all the time in the world. There was no rush in the way he kissed her, just a slow burning that intensified and seemed to make every nerve ending in her stand up.

A loud gasp, followed by a shocked cough made them tear apart and they turned around to come to face with Happy, who despite his name didn't look happy at all.

Pepper flushed a deep bright red while Tony merely grinned at him, his hand still around her waist.

"Hey Hogan, late for work again?"


	2. (ii)

Thank you so much for reviews. There is the next chapter of this little piece. I hope you'll enjoy it. Cheers.

* * *

(ii)

A loud splash interrupted her. She was sitting on a chair by the pool, her laptop on her knees. She had been doing paperwork all morning, had barely noticed the time running by and only Happy jumping into the pool pulled her out of work mode again.

She smiled at him as he swam through the water. Happy was like a big brother to her and she had to admit she found it cute when he had fixed Tony with a stern glare upon walking in on Tony kissing her again in his kitchen the morning after their first kiss on the top of the roof. Afterwards he had asked her if she was sure she wanted to start something with _Stark_ because he would probably hurt her.

Well, to be honest, she feared that too but she really loved him and if the past made her realize one thing it was that she didn't want to have any regrets. And even though being with Tony would probably only last a couple of weeks, maybe months, before he got tired of her and turned to someone else, she told herself she at least wanted to experience the feeling of being with him.

Not that she would tell Happy that, but she figured since she was irrevocably in love with Tony Stark anyway it didn't matter if she was with or without him. Either way she would hurt in the end. So better appreciate the here and now and all that.

But somehow, Tony seemed to have other ideas. He was gentle and slow with her. He had kissed her only a few times since that night on the roof and every time had been soft and gentle and she didn't really dare to think, almost _loving_. What was the most surprising was the fact that hehad not tried to seduce her yet. He had taken her hand, lacing their fingers, kissed her softly or pulled her into a warm hug but this was about as physical as things had gotten between them so far. She didn't quite understand his behavior since he had expressed his desire to have sex with her on many times in the past.

"Hey Pepper, you alright?" Happy stood in front of her, dripping wet and still clad only in his swim trunks.

She smiled up at him. "Yeah, thanks, Happy, I am fine."

"He giving you a hard time already?", he asked grimly and Pepper blushed a little but shook her head no.

"No, it's okay. In fact I haven't seen him at all today. And really, Happy, you don't need to stand up for me. It's sweet but I can take care of myself."

Happy nodded, blushed a little, before he took her left hand in his. "I know that. I just know how he is and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Before Pepper could answer, she noticed Tony leaning against the doorframe, a frown on his face. The lacerations on his face he'd gotten during his fights almost two weeks ago were mostly healed but he had grime smeared over his eyebrow. His hair looked amazing though and she wanted to run her fingers through it.

"Potts, you cheating already?", he inquired, his tone teasing with a hint of something she couldn't name.

She blushed and quickly entangled herself from Happy's hand. "No, we were just talking. It's nice to see you too, by the way."

At that he grinned before making his way over to her while Happy quickly got lost and before she realized it, Tony had pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Pepper felt herself melting into him, his mouth warm and wet against hers and he tasted just right. Her fingers knotted themselves into his short dark hair and she heard him moan softly against her lips. One of his hands wrapped itself around her neck, his other one pressed at her back. Slowly, the urgency and passion ebbed away and they shared a few closed-mouthed kisses before Tony pulled away completely.

"Damn it, Potts, you're hot," he said, his forehead gently touching hers. His dark gaze fixated her and Pepper found she couldn't look away. Her heart hammered in her chest.

She blushed a little, yet couldn't help but smile. "You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Stark."

He took her hands in his again, much like he'd done on the rooftop after Rhodey had taken off and smiled at her. Pepper was still surprised that he seemed almost shy around her when he had already been with so many women.

"You hungry? I could fetch us something while you relax a little. " His thumbs gently stroked over the back of her hands as he watched her reaction. "I know you've been working nonstop since the expo."

Her heartbeat picked up its pace upon realizing this was his way of caring for her and letting her actually know. While wondering about the nature of this new thing between them Pepper had come to realize that even long before they had first kiss, Tony had cared for her. Of course she had known that but remembering various incidents she had finally understood that he had done things for her never had for anyone else but that he had apparently not been ready for her to see them. Now though it seemed like he was and it was incredibly sweet.

On impulse, she leaned forward and kissed him again. He was wearing jeans and a black shirt, his arc reactor obvious and he looked as hot as ever. Pepper just couldn't help herself. It seemed to be minutes later when he gently pulled away, chuckling a little.

"You know I actually meant food, right?", he teased and she flushed.

"Yeah," she added smilingly, but swatted his chest though.

"Great. Something's coming right up." Tony smiled and leaned over to give her another peck.

And then for old time's sake she asked, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

He smiled. "For now that will be all, Miss Potts." He left her standing next to the pool with her heart pounding and being madly, unconditionally in love with him.


	3. (iii)

Thank you all for your kind words and your nice reviews. Here's the next chapter. Have fun.

* * *

(iii)

She couldn't stop laughing. It was ridiculous. _He_ was being ridiculous but that didn't make either of them stop though. She let out a squeal while he grabbed her hand and whirled her around, his feet still moving rhythmically to the beat.

Tony Stark was making her dance stupidly with him in the middle of his workshop in the middle of the day and Pepper really couldn't believe she was actually letting him.

He laughed and pulled her back to his broad frame and then with another twirl moved so _she_ was whirling _him_ around and Pepper giggled again all while the _Pointer Sisters_ bleared how _excited_ they were. Pepper had no clue how this kind of song actually ended up in Tony's playlist because for all she knew he only ever listened to entirely too loud rock music down here but as soon as the tunes of the current song had started, Tony had just put down the glass of the freshly made lemonade Pepper had made and taken down to him a few minutes earlier and had grabbed her in order to start dancing wildly and chaotically and it was fun. It was fun and sweet and while she had always known Tony to do crazy things she had never seen him like this, free and unrestrained without the assistance of at least a few glasses of scotch.

"I'm so excited, I just can't hide it," he sang joyously and Pepper couldn't help but sing along because his enthusiasm was contagious and seemed to envelop her entirely. She couldn't remember the last time she had that much fun and it was the middle of the day and Tony was wearing a strained, slightly ripped top and oily jeans and she was wearing a fancy white business suit which she knew was going to be ruined once this was over but she didn't care. Because the utter joy on his face and the free smile made her silly heart skip beats and all she wanted for him was to never lose that feeling again.

Tony pulled her back again and this time let his lips catch hers. She could feel him smile against her mouth and couldn't help but giggle into the kiss. Yet, her arms came up and she fisted the straps of his top to stay as close as possible. With a chuckle Tony pulled away and danced around her again, entwining their fingers together. They were both beaming and in the back of her head Pepper could only imagine how ridiculous they must have looked for Jarvis, but she didn't care and she was sure Tony didn't either.

"I know, I know, I know, I know I want you, I want you!", they sang together and this time it was Pepper who pulled him closer and he came willingly, one strong arm winding around her waist while his left one still held hers. Their lips met yet again and with a happy sigh, Pepper wrapped her free arm around his neck, letting her chest come into contact with his.

"So you guys are actually doing this?", a voice interrupts them, making them almost jump apart in shock before they turn towards the entrance of Tony's workshop.

Rhodey, yet again. Damn it.

"Jarvis, how about a little warning?", Tony complains, glaring up at the ceiling and the music stopped.

Pepper, embarrassed to have gotten caught making out with Tony by Rhodey yet again, discretely wiped her mouth with her index finger.

"With all due respect, sir, you seemed to enjoy yourself and I calculated you would not mind having Colonel Rhodes unannounced," Jarvis explained. "I apologize if I miscalculated though."

Tony dismissed him with a wave of his hand and focused on his friend instead. "And what's with you interrupting us? A guy's gotta develop a complex, you know."

Rhodey rolled his dark eyes. "I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, I know your life's pretty sad and unfulfilled but voyeuring on Pepper and me is not okay."

Pepper shook her head upon their banter and Rhodey rolled his eyes again. "Actually, I am here because I got news for you. Although your own news are pretty big yourself, guys."

Pepper blushed but Tony was unfazed. "What do you want, Rhodes?"

"There's gonna be a thing. Medals and thanks and all that," Rhodey said. "In DC, next Friday."

"You inviting us to share your glory day?"

Pepper couldn't believe how obtuse he could be for a genius. "He means you'll get one as well, genius," Pepper corrected with a good-natured shake of her head and couldn't hold in a smile.

Tony's dark gaze jumped from her to Rhodey. "She's right, isn't she? I'm gonna get honored for my excellent services, won't I?" There was a slow grin forming on his lips and Rhodey closed his eyes. Pepper was sure he was counting to ten in his head. Tony tended to have that effect on people.

"Yep. Wear something nice and I'm gonna see you next Friday." Rhodey turned around to leave. "You can get back to whatever the two of you were doing before I came here," he said and then went back upstairs.

While Tony yelled something obnoxiously after him, Pepper quickly pulled up the calendar on her phone. Confused, she noticed an appointment scheduled for Tuesday. More information showed that it was with N. Fury and she had no idea either who that was or what the meeting could be about.

"Hey Tony, did you put that meeting in my phone?", she asked, showing him the details.

He took the phone from her hands and inspected the entry, before blinking. "No," he said, "I bet SHIELD did."

"SHIELD?"

He waved her off. "Some stupid agency. Long story. Natasha works for them. Fury is the head and apparently wants to meet up again."

"Again?", Pepper asked confused, "as in you've met before?"

"Yup. He helped me come up with a plan B for the…you know," he trailed off, meeting her gaze uneasily. The way his hand crept up his chest though, Pepper knew exactly what he was talking about and swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.

She knew that he was fine, she had insisted on him letting her see the progress of the grey lines on his chest vanishing every day for the last two weeks. But having it mentioned again, being reminded of that time, especially knowing that at the time Tony had been under the impression that he was going to die rather sooner than later, it left her cold and frightened inside. She had no idea what she would have done if he had not been able to find a replacement for the palladium.

"Do you know what he wants though?", Pepper asked, trying to force her mind away from the depressing thoughts.

Tony shook his head. "No clue. I'll go though."


	4. (iv)

Hello folks, here's the next piece of this little thing. Thanks for staying with me so far and for your reviews. Cheers.

* * *

(iv)

"Will you stay for dinner tonight?"

Tony's question on Saturday around lunch time kind of took her off guard. She'd been on the phone with HR all day because Tony, the sweet silly idiot had personally bought her a bunch of red roses after his little thing in DC to which she could not come because there had been too much work to do. And of course, the ever present paparazzi had seen and since then everything was a media nightmare because everyone was now wondering who the _secret woman_ was Tony Stark must obviously be dating. It was entirely ridiculous because besides kissing in the realms of his mansion there had not been anything between them yet. They had not gone out on a date yet and honestly they hadn't even talked if _dating_ was actually what they were doing. And of course, there was the sex thing. Or rather the lack of it. Because they weren't having any. They had been kissing for almost three weeks now and there had not been more than that yet.

So when he suddenly appeared in his living room where she had been working in all morning and asked her out of the blue, she could only stare dumbly at him.

"You've taken such good care of me and I thought we'd switch roles for once. You can relax, enjoy yourself and I'll cook some dinner," he continued sweetly and took her hands in his after he'd reached her. His thumbs gently stroked over the back of her hands as he watched her reaction.

Her heartbeat picked up its pace upon realizing he was obviously finally making his move now. Because staying for dinner surely meant staying the night and while it wasn't like she'd never slept here before, she felt it was different now because they were kind of _something_ , and it would be weird for her to take the guest room and to be honest, she wanted to sleep with him. It kind of freaked her out that he was being so gentle and slow with her, not pushing or asking and it left her wondering what the hell he really was playing at. She knew for sure he had never cooked for a woman before.

Feeling like it, she fisted his T-shirt and pulled him forward to kiss him. He came willingly and she felt his eyelids flutter against her cheekbones. It seemed to be minutes later when he gently pulled away, chuckling a little.

"Does that mean yes?", he teased and she nodded.

"Yeah," she added smilingly.

"Great." Tony smiled and leaned over to give her another peck.

Beaming up at him, she asked, "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

He smiled. "I need to get back downstairs, so yeah, that will be all, Miss Potts." He left her sitting on the couch with her heart pounding and being madly, unconditionally in love with him.

* * *

By dawn she was a ball of nerves and excited energy. It was ridiculous, really, because he hardly was the first guy she was going to sleep with but because he was Tony and she was so in love with him and well, maybe she was a little terrified because sleeping with him would make this real. Kissing him, while it was breathtakingly exciting and toe-curling, was something she would be able to lock in a dark, deep hidden corner of the back of her mind. Sleeping with him however was something entirely different and while she desperately wanted to do this with him she was also afraid of what would happen once she let go of her walls she had build around herself when it came to Tony Stark.

Currently she was nipping on a glass of spritzer and sitting on the step of the glass door that separated the pool area from the rest of the house. The sun had already started sinking but it was still bright and every now and then the rays hit the water of the giant pool and made it sparkle beautifully. Tony had told her almost half an hour ago that he was going to freshen up now because he was grimy and sweaty and had left her with a kiss to the top of her head. With her heart pounding nervously in her chest she had watched him skip up the stairs to his quarters and then, in an attempt not to lose her mind she'd decided to put on some music and get herself a glass spritzer in order for her nerves to calm a little. She didn't want her mind compromised in any way though and had therefore forgone the white wine she could have also chosen.

Feeling Tony come up behind herself, she half turned to smile up at him as he sat down next to her. "You could have gotten yourself a chair, you know," he said, watching her curiously.

Pepper smiled and shrugged a little. "I like door steps. Had my first kiss on the one at my parents' house actually." She had no idea what made her tell him that but the way Tony raised his brows in a happily surprised way wouldn't let her regret it.

"Care to share the experience, Potts?", he asked, an intrigued hint in his slightly teasing voice.

"Alright."

Instantly, he leaned over to kiss her, but Pepper stopped him with her palm pressing against his chest and moved her head back a little. "It needs to be slow," she said by way of explanation and the frown that had formed on Tony's expression upon having her stopping him, vanished.

"I'm listening," he said and watched her curiously, is dark eyes intense on hers.

She blushed a little and wet her lips with her tongue. "Alright, so you find my hand with yours, just like that," she stated quietly and stood her glass down on her left before she reached her left hand out to meet Tony's right one which he was extending towards her. She liked his hands. They were always warm and just the right kind of rough from tinkling in his workshop. They were big and she felt safe and comfortable whenever he touched her.

Tony smiled at her and let his fingers interlace with hers before his thumb began gently stroking the back of her hand. A few minutes he kept his intense, dark gaze on hers and Pepper's heart began pounding strongly in her chest. While she might have always thought that her first kiss with Josh Reynolds on her parents' doorstep had been rather magical it was nothing compared to this because while fourteen-year-old Josh had been handsome he had had nothing on Tony with all his manliness, the way his eyes were taking her in like she was the single most beautiful thing in his entire world. She loved his dark, fluffy hair and his trademark goatee and well, while her thirteen-year-old self had had a rather hard crush on Josh Reynolds she was irrevocably and head over heels in love with Tony Stark and therefore she thought this right here was probably the most intimate moment of her life.

Her eyes had long lost themselves in his and his voice was low and gentle when he spoke. "So at some point we're gonna lean in, right?"

She smiled and nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah." Her voice sounded incredibly breathless. And then, their gazes never leaving each other's, they both leaned slowly in and Pepper's heart almost burst right out of her chest. She had kissed him well more than once in the last three weeks and yet, whenever they did it again it left her breathless and mind blown and she never wanted to tear away from him again. They kissed for a few minutes, gently and sweetly and without any rush.

When they finally pulled away, Tony's eye were dark liquid, his pupils very dilated and he looked so deliciously Pepper could barely stop herself from jumping him right there.

"Wow," he finally said, before coughing a little because his voice sounded hoarse and high and Pepper let out a giggle upon realizing this must have affected him just as much as it had her.

"Wow," he said again, this time having more control over his voice and he grinned at her. "You're right. Doorsteps are pretty neat."

She smiled and nodded a little in agreement, eying his lips again. "Mhm."

Their hands were still clasped and Tony pulled them up to his mouth to give her knuckles a little kiss. "So I'm gonna head inside and get started on dinner, alright?"

Pepper nodded and gave his hand a squeeze. "Need any help?"

He stood up and extended his hand down to pull her up. "Not necessarily, but you're my favorite company."

Pepper loved how natural it felt to head to the kitchen, holding hands with Tony Stark.

* * *

Dinner was delicious. Tony had grilled some steaks and served them with rosemary potatoes and salad.

"It's the only thing I can do besides omelets," he had told her which Pepper found rather amusing considering his omelets.

For dessert they had raspberry cheesecake which apparently he'd had delivered in the late afternoon and he had winked at her, stating that he could indeed listen and learn.

Over the course of their meal they talked and teased and it made Pepper forget a little about her nerves because so far their date, which she had come to realize was what this actually was, was rather perfect. However, once they were seated on the couch in the living room area with another piece of cake which they were kind of sharing, Pepper's nerves came back. Tony was animatedly telling her some ridiculous college time story while he was sitting angularly with one leg hidden beneath the other and the fork in his hand. His eyes were light and she knew he was enjoying himself immensely and she was too. However she also felt slightly on edge because a part of her was kind of waiting for Tony to pounce. Or at least pull her towards him and kiss her senseless or make some inappropriate comment that made it clear they were going to head upstairs soon. But the fact that it was almost ten and he was only talking and holding her hand in his unoccupied one was slowly driving her insane.

"I mean I still can't believe he let me off the hook with _that_ ," Tony was saying and then sent her a grin as if he clearly expected her to agree with him and something in her just _snapped_. With one quick, elegant move she just hoisted herself up across his lap and put her tongue down his throat.

Tony, actually freezing for all of two seconds, quickly grabbed her hips and kissed her back rather enthusiastically, groaning slightly when she grinded herself against him. He was warm and tasted like raspberry cheesecake and Pepper suddenly felt such a rush of lust for him that she knew she was going to lose her mind. She straightened a little, her hands fisting the textile of the navy blue shirt he was wearing on top of his shoulders, in attempt to change the angle a little, get better access to his maddening mouth. Tony moaned against her lips, his tongue stroking passionately every tiny place of hers and she felt him clench his fingers into the fabric of her black little dress. Beneath her already wet panties she sensed his growing erection, only restrained by his dark jeans. She involuntarily started rubbing herself against him, enjoying, needing the friction and Tony groaned into her mouth, tearing his lips from hers, only to come down on her neck, nipping and sucking her sensitive skin.

"Pepper," he moaned, his deep, hoarse voice rippling over her, vibrating right down in her very core and she gasped breathlessly.

She moved a little, her fingers found his silky hair and knotted themselves in the strands as she pulled his mouth back to hers. Tongues and teeth clashed and Pepper was sure her mind blanked for a moment.

"Pep," he groaned against her lips, "Pep, wait."

Her mind did not register what he was saying, what he was asking and therefore she let her lips hungrily wander down his throat, her teeth sinking into his flesh.

"Jesus, Pep," he cried out and then, suddenly, his hands were on her shoulders and he was pushing until her lips could no longer make contact with his skin.

Out of hooded eyes and beyond aroused she stared at him, entirely uncomprehending why he was stopping her.

"Pepper," he said, breathing heavily, apparently trying to calm himself enough to form actual sentences and not just say her name over and over again.

"What?", she asked, slowly snapping out of her lust filled state, right before an entirely different feeling consumed her.

Rejection.

It was hard and cold and hurt. It left her breathless. She had no idea why he was pushing her away because one wiggle of her groin over his proved how turned on he exactly was.

"I'm not saying no," he clarified upon seeing and correctly interpreting the look on her face. "I'm saying there's something you need to know before we, you know, do this," he stated and suddenly she registered that he actually felt uncomfortable and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest.

"Oh, no, you _are_ dying, aren't you?" Her eyes instantly started burning. "Why didn't you tell me? I asked you so many times and you always-"

"Pep, I'm _not_ dying, okay?", he loudly cut her off, apparently having enough of her ranting.

"Then what? I don't understand."

His dark eyes met hers for only a short moment and Pepper detected something in them she wasn't able to identify. Whatever it was, he kept it secret and hidden and apparently he wasn't really wanting to share it yet because he didn't continue talking. Instead, he stared past her, his gaze focusing on something behind her.

"Tony?"

He let out a sigh. "I'm trying to do this right," he said slowly and Pepper furrowed her eye brows.

"You mean us," Pepper clarified, trying to follow his train of thought.

Tony nodded and shot her a look. "Yeah and you're actually making that shockingly difficult here."

She actually blushed. "I'm sorry?"

He sighed again and ran a hand through his short dark hair. She loved his hair. Sometime after this whole Iron Man thing had started he had decided to wear it shorter and well, when she'd first seen him after he'd had his hair cut she'd almost melted on the spot. To her, Tony Stark was probably the sexiest man walking on earth.

"Okay, here it goes," he said, steadily meeting her eyes with a determined look on his face. "I'm just gonna do it from the cuff here because I don't have any idea how to say this. Actually, I don't even know what I'm gonna say but-"

"Tony," she cut into his rambling, but he ignored her and continued anyway.

"If you stay with me tonight, if we do this, then that's it," he told her, his words a little uncoordinated and she realized how nervous he actually was. "Then we're gonna be a done deal and there's no way back."

She frowned, not grasping what he was saying. It sounded a little as if he was telling her that once they slept together things between them would be over but somehow she knew he didn't mean that.

"You've got a choice here," he continued, his eyes averting from hers now. "If you want to continue then that's it. We're gonna be together. You'll be mine and I'll be yours and there's gonna be a ring and kids at some point. We're gonna be a done deal." He was actually stumbling over his words now and Pepper could actually feel his wildly beating heart as her own thundered in her chest, entirely disbelieving of what he was saying, what he was promising.

"So, Pep, if you don't want that," he swallowed harshly, "or if you can't…with me…or aren't sure then we need to stop now because-" He sounded incredibly vulnerable and Pepper, over her own heavy breathing and her nerves and her painfully hard beating heart did the only thing she could think of because there were no words for this.

So instead, Pepper stood up from his lap and simply loosened the straps of her black dress, letting gravity do its magic. It left her wearing only black, lacy panties and her crazy high stilettos and she met his dark, slightly shocked gaze.

"Ready to make good on your word, Mr. Stark?"


	5. (v)

**Seriously, I can't thank you enough for your kind reviews. Here's the next chapter. Cheers.**

* * *

(v)

They were having croissants and coffee with a glass of orange juice. It wasn't the food choice per se that was kind of throwing Pepper but the fact that Tony was only wearing boxers and she panties and one of his dress shirts while her red strands fell in slight waves around her shoulders. And maybe that she was seated on the kitchen counter with Tony Stark standing in between her mostly naked legs, slightly leaning against her as they munched on their breakfast and listened to Jarvis going over the latest news and what was on Tony's agenda for today.

She still couldn't really wrap her mind around the fact that she had spent the last night having wild, mind blowing sex with Tony Stark and that they were now having breakfast like it was the most normal thing in the world. Of course she had always known that if they would ever find themselves crossing that line that had existed between them for roundabout a decade that the act itself would be earth shattering, not only because she knew that Tony Stark was a phenomenal lover but also because there had been so much sexual tension between the two of them for years that it was clear that once the carefully built up dam broke they would be consumed by their passion. Yet, only in the tiniest part of her mind, Pepper had indulged herself in imagining what it would be like if they ever succumbed to the tension not only just once but in a different setting. A setting in which they were now, miraculously finding themselves.

"Sir, I suggest we begin with your checkup immediately," Jarvis said, effectively pulling Pepper out of her thoughts. Her blue eyes worriedly snapped to his bare chest, eying the area of his skin around the arc reactor that was shaped triangularly nowadays. It looked slightly tanned and soft to the touch, but despite the smudge of apricot jam to the arc's left there was nothing worrisome that met her eye.

Tony, noticing her look, huffed slightly. "It's just a checkup, Pep. I promise I'm fine."

"He is stating the truth, Miss Potts," Jarvis interfered, backing up his master. "It has been three weeks since Mr. Stark replaced the palladium in his reactor with the newly designed element and therefore the last traces of the palladium poisoning are expected to have vanished by now. By that assumption, today's checkup will be the last one, Mr. Stark."

"Alright, thanks, J."

"I recommend a fellow checkup in a year though to scan for any long time consequences, sir. Though there aren't expected to be any," he added, probably for Pepper's benefit.

"See," Tony said, winking at Pepper, "I'm perfectly fine."

Thankful for that, she leaned forward and chastely captured his lips with hers.

"So," Tony began, his tone holding a slight teasing, "what are we gonna to today? You know it's Sunday and we're both naked." He waggled his eye brows suggestively while his mouth had formed into a smirk and Pepper swatted him, though she smiled in return.

"You know since you didn't let me quit there's this giant multibillion dollar company I kind of got to manage," she quipped, taking the last piece of her croissant to remove the smudge of jam on his chest before quickly dropping it in her mouth.

Tony's warm hands had found her thighs, creeping up higher, only for Pepper to quickly grab them to stop him from continuing last night's activities right in the middle of his kitchen.

Tony gaped at her. "You don't really think I'm going to let you out of bed today, do you?"

"Look where we are, genius," Pepper teased, her hand finding his neck. Surprised she found a dark spot there and blushed upon realizing that in the haze of last night's passion she apparently had left him with a rather impressive hickey. And while she felt slightly embarrassed she couldn't help but let out a giggle as her fingers gently touched the mark.

"Yeah, well, then let me rephrase that," Tony replied dismissively, the smirk on his face still in place as he his fingers found her hips beneath the shirt she was wearing. "I won't let you put anything on besides what you are wearing right now."

Pepper laughed. "You do realize I can actually make phone calls, write reports and emails in nothing but my underwear, right?"

Frustrated, he pouted before he simply picked her up. "Let's find your smart mouth another occupation than disobeying my orders, shall we?", he grumbled and Pepper laughed out loud.

"Disobeying your orders? You aren't exactly my boss anymore and besides what you're saying is just ridiculous," she argued but let him carry her out of the kitchen anyway, even secured herself a little better by wrapping her legs around his waist.

She couldn't really make out whatever it was he muttered in reply because her mouth was actually too busy working over his but she quickly found she didn't care either way because he was doing just-

"Sir." Jarvis voice kind of felt like a bucket of ice cold water but Pepper couldn't help but chuckle as Tony froze, groaning into her neck.

"What?", he barked darkly, causing Pepper to giggle again.

"I apologize for interrupting but considering the duration of the last time you and Miss Potts engaged in such activities I calculated there won't be enough time for your checkup today. It is, after all, almost two pm already."

Pepper blushed embarrassed upon realizing that of course Jarvis had been, well, not observing them last night, but that he was at least very well aware what had been going on and while she was used to the AI's ever consistent presence, this was a tiny bit weird and made her a little uncomfortable.

Tony glared up at the ceiling. "Way to kill the mood, J," he accused annoyed and sighed.

Pepper climbed down from him and leaned her forehead against his chest, her cheeks still hot and flushed. Tony gently stroked her back.

"I apologize again, sir, but you programmed me to have your wellbeing as my main priority."

"Yeah, well, dying of blue balls because you're cockblocking me kinda-"

"Thank you, Jarvis, for looking out for his wellbeing," Pepper interrupted him, effectively cutting off her boyfriend's crass phrasing. "It's nice to know I don't have to do that on my own."

"You're welcome, Miss Potts," Jarvis said.

Tony opened his mouth, undoubtedly to insult his helpful AI a little more but Pepper quickly pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, shutting him up.

"Can we please be responsible here?", she pleaded, her eyes imploring him. She had always known Tony had a knack for dismissing his own wellbeing and therefore he entirely depended on having someone else take care of him and while he realized that consciously because otherwise he would not have programmed Jarvis accordingly, she knew that he could easily mute his AI if he wasn't in the mood to follow the directions. Therefore she had learned very early on in her position as his ever present PA that she needed to be the irresistible force to his immobile object when it came down to his health and wellbeing.

Besides that the fact that he had been dying only three weeks ago still left her with nightmares at night and therefore she really needed the insurance of Jarvis' final test for her peace of mind because while she believed Tony when he assured her that he was fine and the danger of the palladium poising was nonexistent anymore she still needed it to hear from the objective, ever truthful AI as a substitute for a real life doctor Tony refused to go see.

He rolled his eyes. "You do know this is unnecessary, right? I _am_ fine." His eyes met hers, letting her see the truth.

She nodded. "I know, I believe you. I just want you to be safe, alright? Tony, I love you and the thought anything could happen to you is unbearable to me."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She hadn't really thought of her phrasing, the exact words she was using in her attempt to make him realize her worries, unfounded as they might be in his eyes and therefore his sharp intake of air had her looking at him confused.

"What?" And then, after replaying the words in her own head, her eyes widened, but only slightly. "Tony, this shouldn't exactly be news to you," she stated then because she had been in love with him for years and he was supposed to be a genius. Undoubtedly he had to have been aware of her feelings.

"Hey," he said defensively, opening his mouth to continue, but Pepper ignored him and rolled her eyes. She didn't want them to make a big deal out of this because she knew he wasn't ready to say the words back to her, even though, considering last night's outlines of the future he was apparently imagining for the two of them, kind of implied he felt it too.

"Look, please just go down into your workshop and do whatever it is you have to do, alright?"

He let out a defeated sigh and closed his eyes. "Fine."

"Thank you." She leaned over and kissed his lips gently. His hands found her hips and then he deepened the kiss, intensifying it. She knew it was his way of saying what he couldn't put into words yet. When they came up for air they felt both a little dizzy.

"And when you're finished," she whispered with a tiny smirk, pulling him a little closer by the frame of his reactor, "we'll pick up right where we left off."

He smirked and leaned over to kiss her again. "Want to get your hands all over me again, don't you, Potts?"

She grinned back. "Mhm." And then she pulled away completely and moved to the stairs that would lead her back to his bedroom.

"Hey Pep?", Tony called after a moment and she turned to look down on him, having already climbed a few steps.

The look on his face was different, one she couldn't remember ever seeing before. It contained a little of wonder and it made him look younger.

"Yeah?"

"Can you say it again?"

She smiled, her eyes meeting his. "I'm in love with you."

And then Tony smiled in return and it was carefree and astounded and it hit Pepper right in her heart.


	6. (vi)

**I'm so sorry for the long delay. I even had the next chapter already uploaded but I kinda didn't get around to actually posting it. Anyway, here it is at last. Have fun.**

* * *

(vi)

In hindsight she should have seen this coming. Maybe not this situation exactly because there was no way she would ever have expected Tony Stark to pull a stunt like this one but then again he had been pretty clear on his intentions, even though she had not really taken them quite as seriously as she apparently should have which had probably been her first mistake.

The next one was not realizing the signs. Well, in her defense she _had_ noticed him acting off but that wasn't exactly something new so how had she been supposed to realize this time it actually meant that he was plotting something like that?

Last night and this morning he had watched her intently, maybe more intently than usual, as she made herself ready for bed and accordingly for work. His dark brown eyes had not left her once while he was sitting in bed, slightly leaning against the headboard while he kept moving his fingers. Tony hadn't been as talkative as he usually was and the fact that he had been in bed before midnight had confused her quite a bit but then again she had been happy to fall asleep snuggled into his warmth which didn't happen too often. While during the almost seven weeks that they had been together now, Tony had tried really hard to be a good boyfriend and admittedly had done rather well so far, he tended to spent most of the night tinkering. Pepper loved him fiercely and while she wasn't exactly thrilled about his sleeping habits she knew they were so much a part of him that they would probably never change. Which was okay because Tony always came up at some point. He never actually spent the whole night down in his workshop and usually, when her alarm went off around 6 am he was there, wrapped up around her and she really loved that. Who would have thought Tony Stark was actually a cuddler?

Of course she had eyed him slightly suspiciously when he had continued to watch her in the morning but because it was going to be quite a hectic day with three meetings in a row Pepper's head had not been really there. Instead she had already mentally gone through her notes again and had pretty much only kissed him chastely goodbye before Happy had been there to pick her up.

Her day had been exactly as chaotic as she had it anticipated to be. A few of the board members were still either not entirely convinced a young woman who had been in PA in the past had the abilities to run a large, successful company like SI or jealous because Tony had made _her_ CEO. In any way the meetings gave her a headache and while she regretted snapping at her assistants a few times she could not help it because damn it, she felt irritated.

Between the second and third meeting, sometime around four pm quite a noise caused her to look up from her reports and notes. Her door and its blinds were closed but she could clearly hear her secretary's voice as she shrieked and then suddenly her door got opened and there was Tony in all his obnoxiousness and _oh god_ , he had the head of HR on a stool, pushing the poor man forwards into her office.

"What the heck is going on?", she asked completely shocked and quickly got up.

The red-faced man sat uncomfortably on the chair with Tony's hands on his shoulders and apparently didn't dare to shrug him off.

"Let him go, would you?", Pepper chided disbelievingly and quite angrily. Had he entirely lost his mind now? What was he even doing at SI anyway?

Tony just winked at her but at least took his hands off the poor man's shoulder and Mr. Hudson instantly jumped up from the chair and turned around to stare at Tony indigently. Before he had any opportunity to complain though, which Pepper would have found more than justified, Tony's voice filled the room.

"I'm sleeping with her," he said offhandedly and pointed at Pepper.

Silence. Utter silence.

Pepper, instantly entirely humiliated and hoping a hole in the floor was going to swallow her up, flushed scarlet and could only stare disbelievingly at her stupid, impossibly obnoxious _boyfriend,_ pretty much like Mr. Hudson, who apparently had no idea what to say or do either because he kept switching his clueless gaze between Tony and Pepper.

"Are you out of your mind?" Pepper had found her voice again and damn it, she was angry which apparently registered somewhere in his dull, dark head because Tony's eyes widened and he quickly tried to amend.

"Uh, I mean, we're not only sleeping together. We're…you know, dating."

Which didn't sound so much better at all.

Pepper groaned and finally dared to look at poor Mr. Hudson. "Mr. Hudson, I'm so sorry," she started but he had apparently found his footing again because he held up his hands, effectively cutting her off. Sitting down on his chair again, he smiled weakly at Pepper.

"Sit," she growled at Tony and he quickly followed suit, sitting in one of the guest chairs in front of her desk.

"I must confess I don't really know what to say, Miss Potts," Hudson said slowly, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to voice his thoughts.

"How about 'congratulations'?", Tony suggested with a grin.

Pepper glared at him while Hudson turned around to face him. "Mr. Stark, on a personal level I'm certainly happy for you, but the board will have a field day with this."

Pepper groaned again. She wanted to scream at Tony so much right now that she could barely hold her anger in. How could he do this? They hadn't even had the slightest talk about going public yet. It had just been seven weeks, damn it. Nine weeks since he had made her CEO. How could a genius be so stupid?

"Yeah, well, they're idiots," Tony said with a roll of his eyes, causing Pepper to yelp and Hudson to stare in disbelief at him. "And frankly, I don't care. Miss Potts and I are together and won't let work dictate our private life."

Pepper sighed and tried to calm herself, knowing it was going to be on her to try to convince Mr. Hudson not to advise the board to outvote her as CEO. "Mr. Hudson, of course we realize the timing is not exactly perfect," she stated carefully.

The head of HR scratched his head before he rightened his slightly askew glasses. "Miss Potts, I don't know how to ask this as politely as possible, but is your _relationship_ serious?"

"Hey!", Tony called out indignantly. "Watch it."

Pepper shot him glare. "What Mr. Stark means is that yes, we are in a stable relationship."

Hudson looked skeptically from one to the other and folded his hands on Pepper's desk. "That is something, I guess. I recommend holding an emergency meeting with the PR department to work out how to go from here," he said slowly.

Pepper nodded. "That is a sensible plan. I'll-"

"Already taken care of it, Pep," Tony suddenly announced, grinning smugly and before Pepper's alarm bells could even ring because she had a really bad, bad feeling, her phone suddenly chirped up with two notifications.

 _Tony Stark changed his profile picture._

 _Tony Stark is in a relationship with Pepper Potts._

Her eyes widened, color vanishing from her face. "You just pronounced this on _Facebook_? What is wrong with you?"

"Mr. Stark-"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Pepper, you know how this is going to go anyway. The board will throw a fit because they're a jealous bunch of idiots but it's in vain because this is _my_ company. And I can do whatever the hell I want. You're a far much better CEO than I ever was and I should have given you the position years ago. It doesn't have anything to with what's going between you and me."

"Yeah, well, you know that and I know that. For everyone else it _looks_ differently. Everybody will think I slept my way up," she argued.

"With all due respect, Miss Potts, that would also have been the case if you announced your relationship six months from now," Mr. Hudson said thoughtfully. "It will always be more difficult for women in such positions, especially if most of the board is male. It's the way it is. Sad as it may be."

She let out a deep sigh, knowing he was right. It didn't change the fact though that Tony was an idiot and that a delicate situation like this one should have been handle diplomatically and carefully and certainly not like Tony had done it.

Pepper opened her mouth to explain just that when there was a knock on her door, cutting her right off.

"Miss Potts? The head of the PR department is here. There's…uh…a situation." Her secretary's face was red and embarrassed and Pepper let out a groan, instantly knowing what was going to come.

"See?", Tony said with a grin. "I knew old Charlie would be jumping up the stairs any minute."

"Yeah, well, you just pronounced to the world your dating your CEO."

"Eh," he said with a shrug, "I think it's more the dating thing than you being the CEO."

In the end it was a PR nightmare, the board was pretty unhappy with both the way things had been handled and the fact that they were dating in the first place, even though no one seemed entirely surprised. It was more of resignation than anything else. However, once Tony kind of crashed a board meeting and made it pretty clear that it was his company and that he could make CEO and date anyone who he damn well pleased and that therefore Pepper was off limits, things at SI died down a little. Pepper was more than relieved. While she still wanted to strangle Tony for his intervention the more female part of her that wasn't the CEO of SI but just a woman madly in love found it sweet because later Tony had explained that he just wanted them to be officially together so he could take her out on dates and hold her hand in public without having to censor himself.

"Pepper, I told you we're a done deal. I don't want to lose any more time due to stupid crap as appropriateness," he had told her and after a few weeks of stress and stupid magazine articles and pictures the hype slowly died down.


	7. (vii)

**I'm so sorry for the long delay. I know it took me forever to finish this off but here's the last chapter of this little piece. Thanks a lot for your reviews and enjoy the last part.**

 **Cheers.**

* * *

(vii)

She couldn't believe she was actually letting him do this. Of course, Tony Stark had something quite disarming about him that made you sometimes do things his way. Besides that it probably didn't help that he knew how much she felt for him and was mostly unable to resist him because they had been dating for a few months now. However, Pepper had always been professional, had always behaved appropriately and therefore it rebelled against every ounce in her that she was actually doing this.

"I can't believe I'm letting you screw me in here," she groaned between kisses, making Tony chuckle in response.

"I'm not screwing you. We're just doing a monkey version of making love," he muttered against her throat.

Oh dear, the sap.

"Besides, I hate to break it to you, honey, but it was actually you who dragged me in here a minute ago."

And damn it if he wasn't right about that. She had done that. They were on a charity gala and while they weren't exactly the main attraction, Tony was still a person of public interest. Therefore, dragging him into the restroom by his tie to have her wicked way with him on the sink wasn't exactly the brightest idea.

Yet, Tony was anything but complaining and she couldn't find it in herself to stop either because he looked too handsome to eat tonight. He wasn't wearing his usual flashy tux but a piece that was a little more subtle and he'd changed his usual sneakers for a pair of business shoes. He looked handsome, hot and professional and Pepper just didn't know what to do with her raging hormones.

She let out a groan as his warm, rough hands found the underside of her creamy thighs and picked her up so that she was seated on the sink and he could step in between her legs. Her mouth found his again and their tongues duelled while her clever fingers impatiently found his fly.

"Drop your pants," she growled into his lips, making Tony moan as her fingers found him in his boxers.

"This is so hot, Pep."

And it was. While their sex life wasn't exactly unadventureous she had never agreed to this kind of kinky, not to mention that she had never instigated anything like that before. Yet, she couldn't help but agree that this was indeed hot because to be honest, sex with Tony always was. While she never liked to think about the countless women he'd been with before her, she also realized the amount of sex gave him a certain experience he always put to a good use. Or maybe they were just so good together.

His goatee kept rubbing deliciously over her sensitive skin and Pepper felt her insides tighten in response. He was just so freakishly good at this and he knew perfectly well when and where and how to touch her in order to drive her wild.

Tony's rough fingers crept up her thigh, slipping under the hem and inching higher until they found the edge of her panties. Impatiently, Pepper groaned and he chuckled against her lips.

"What's with you tonight? Not that I'm complaining."

She shrugged while her left hand quickly found his and moved it where she wanted it the most. "I just want you. Right now."

"I noticed, honey," Tony said and then he bend down to kiss her again, sucking and licking and letting his lips wander down to her collarbone and the upper flesh of her breasts. Her breathing was harsh and in pants and Pepper had already all but forgotten about where they currently were.

How did he do that?

She moved her hips forward until she was seated on the very edge of the sink and Tony finally got the hint. It didn't take long until the both of them were leaning helplessly against each other, both breathing heavily and with their legs wobbly, but feeling happily sated.

"I can't believe that just happened," she muttered against his skin, but let out a giggle because she was still on somewhat of a high and her brain had not caught up yet.

"Move in with me."

She froze against him, her cloud suddenly all but forgotten and her brain very much back in function. "What?"

"Move in with me," Tony repeated against her sweaty temple and the movement of his lips while he spoke felt like a caress. He did that sometimes. Speaking against her skin or her hair, mostly when they were in bed or on his couch and Pepper loved these moments. During the last few months for which they had been dating, these moments had become a lot more frequent than one might expect them to, considering Tony Stark was one of the two people in the relationship. Yet, while they went out often enough, mostly to work related outings but sometimes even on actual dates, Pepper knew Tony loved their quiet moments more. And she did, too. So far, Tony had turned out to be quite date-able. If that was even a word. On the other hand it wasn't exactly new to invent new words while describing Tony Stark, was it? Of course he was acting rather stupidly and over the top from time to time but mostly he was just perfect and Pepper was so in love with him it probably wasn't healthy anymore.

Not that she cared.

"I heard you the first time," she replied delayed.

"Great. So move in with me."

She rolled her eyes and pushed a little against his chest so he would step back and look at her. "Tony, we've only been dating for a few months and you have neither been in a stable relationship before nor have you ever lived with someone. This is a pretty big step."

He shrugged and eyed her calmly. "So? You're spending most nights at my house anyway."

"Yes, but there's always the possibility of going home and besides that I don't always spend it in your bed. Often enough you fall asleep on your desk down in the shop and I go up into my room."

"Which is stupid, by the way. You could just go into my room. Why do you insist on doing that anyway?"

"I just told you why. Because we've only been dating shortly."

"Shortly? That's the longest, most intense thing I've ever had with a woman," Tony replied disbelievingly but Pepper slid down from the sink and started rightening her clothes.

"Precisely. Now, get dressed and let's get out of here before someone actually catches us."

He sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

She should have known this wouldn't be the end of it.

* * *

She was insanely tired. Even traveling in Tony's very perfect private jet didn't make attending meetings all over the world in a matter of four days any less exhausting. Therefore, when she landed in L.A. again on Wednesday night all Pepper wanted to do was climb into her bed and sleep until Sunday. Not that she would do that, she was way too professional for that but at least she would get seven hours of sleep until she had to be back in the mansion to go over the meetings with Tony and later on with the board at SI.

Happy had just picked her up from the airport and was driving her to her apartment. From time to time he send her a smile until he finally spoke.

"You know, Tony's been pretty annoying without you around. He was lost like a puppy. A pretty funny sight actually."

Pepper grinned tiredly. "I'm sure he probably didn't leave the shop."

But instead of laughing and agreeing with her, Happy nervously averted his gaze and Pepper was instantly alerted.

"What aren't you telling me, Happy? What did he do? Did he get beaten up again?"

Happy winced. "Please don't make me tell you." His eyes were still not meeting hers but Pepper wouldn't be Pepper if she weren't going to pry every little detail right out of him.

"Happy, tell me now. I'm serious."

The driver sighed. "Fine. He went on a mission the second night and got beaten up, but not too badly so don't worry. I went there yesterday morning to check up on him and couldn't find him at first. Turned out he went straight into your room and slept there. Last night, too."

Something warm washed over her and squeezed her heart until she could barely breathe. Tony was just so-

"I guess what I'm saying is that he really, really missed you, Pepper. Even if you were only away for three nights."

While it wasn't exactly new for Happy that they were dating, not even that Tony was very serious about her, Pepper couldn't help but blush. It was stupid and ridiculous but she couldn't help it. The intensity of what Happy was saying was making her almost nauseous. Her heart started beating faster and too late she realized she should probably give some kind of reply.

"I missed him too," she said belatedly.

Happy laughed. "Really? I'd think you'd enjoy your free time for the time being. I sure as hell do on my days off."

She grinned a little but didn't say anything. Interestingly, she'd really meant it. She had missed Tony. Of course she had. And while she'd known for a long time that she was in love with him and had also told him so on more than one occassion suddenly things felt far more serious than they ever had before.

"He asked me to move in with him," she suddenly let out quietly, not really sure what made her tell Happy in the first place.

His eyes were still glued to the street, so he didn't look her way but merely nodded in response. "Makes sense. Will you? Move in with him, I mean."

She bit her lip and looked down on her hands. "I don't know. I mean I guess that's where we're probably headed but it's only been a few months and he's never done this before."

Happy sighed a little. "Pepper, I know I was a little weirded out at the beginning but I know he's pretty serious about this. Actually, I know that for a fact."

Confused, she looked at him. "What's that mean?"

His eyes widened and he quickly refocused on the street. "Nothing. Really. I'm just saying moving in together is just the next logical step in my book. You guys are perfect for each other. So why the resistance?"

She didn't know why. Ever since he came up with the living together thing and she had all but told him no she had been wondering why she hadn't just agreed. Objectively speaking her arguments were ridiculous. Tony and her hadn't been strangers before they started dating. She had already known him for a decade and they knew each other inside and out. And while it might be true that he had never been in a real relationship before she knew where he saw them heading. After all, he had flat out told her months ago right before they'd had their first night together. So why was she resisting?

"Want to know what I think?", Happy suddenly quietly asked, effectively cutting right through her train of thoughts. "I think you are afraid. Afraid that he'll change his mind."

Tears started pooling in her eyes and she quickly brushed them away while her heart beat hard in her chest. "What if he does?", she whispered. She wouldn't be able to stomach that. She loved Tony Stark with all her heart, had done so for so long, and now that she was so close she was terrified of losing it again.

Happy smiled at her. "He won't, trust me. Trust him."

She swallowed hard. Could she actually do this?

* * *

Seriously? What the hell?

The night had already been emotional enough, she really wasn't in the mood for this kind of crap. Angrily, she took out her phone to call her landlord.

"Good evening," she greeted once he had taken the call, "it's Virgina Potts. Something is wrong with either the lock on my apartment door or my key because I can't open the door."

"Uh," the guy said tiredly, "lady you do realize you don't live here anymore, right?

Confused, she frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Your rich billionaire boyfriend had all your stuff moved today and I already rented the apartment out to someone else."

Barely able to contain her rage, she cried, "You can't just allow someone into my home and take all my belongings. What kind of crappy landlord are you?"

The guy laughed at the other end of the line. "Lady, it wasn't 'someone'. I know for a fact you're dating him. It's been all over the news. And besides he gave me a whole lot of money."

* * *

Beyond angry, Pepper rushed into the mansion only thirty minutes later. She was definitely going to give him a piece of her mind. If she wasn't so mad right now she might even find it funny that Tony had the capacity to have her swoon over him one minute and ready to kill him the next.

"Stark!", she snapped loudly. The douche was probably down in his shop tinkering and giggling because of his oh-so-funny prank.

To her surprise he suddenly appeared right next to her.

"Hey Pep," he greeted and while he must definitely have noticed the anger on her face, he apparently decided to ignore it. Instead, he quickly closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

Deeply, passionately and so intensely that for a moment, Pepper was too surprised and too overcome by both him and her own feelings that she forgot how mad she was and kissed him back just as enthusiastically. While his arms tightened their embrace around her and pressed her even more fully against him, Pepper's fingers quickly found their way into the short, dark hair at the nape of his neck and knotted themselves in there while she lost herself in him. Sometimes the intensity between them was almost frightening.

His lips started sucking on hers, licking and biting softly, making her moan and him groan in response. Her tongue found his, duelling it until Tony's finger's and his whole being became restless, clearly ready to take their impromptu make out session further.

Somehow that made her snap back to reality and she was about to push him away not too gently and get into his face, when his mumbled words against her throat made her freeze.

"God, I love you."

Her heart missed a beat before it continued thundering twice as fast in her chest and suddenly, she felt so warm and sickenly happy.

"Missed you like crazy," he muttered around her collarbone and than actually started sucking on it, making Pepper moan loudly and her groin involuntarily grind into his.

"I love you, too," she whispered over his ear before biting down on the soft flesh. Tony's hands found the zipper of her business dress and hastily started pulling it down. "Missed you, too."

Her head felt dizzy, overcome with lust and love and affection and want and damn it, how was it possible that he could have her like putty in his hands in under five minutes?

Her dress dropped without a fight and left her in the circle of his arms with nothing on than her underwear and her high heels. Tony groaned appreciatively before he picked her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. His hardness met her heat through his jeans, causing them both to moan against each other's mouths.

And then, suddenly remembering tonight's events, Pepper bit down on his lip, hard enough to make him bleed.

"Ouch!", he cried out but Pepper didn't have mercy and instead, sucked his lower lip into his mouth.

"Serves you right," she growled, "for corrupting my landlord and making me move in here."

"Other women would kill for that," he muttered, sounding both incredibly turned on and also a little bit irritated.

"Yeah, well, other women aren't the ones who you want to move in with you."

"Figures I'd fall for the difficult one," Tony hummed. "For what's worth it, I really, really want you here with me."

Her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck and she smiled down at him. "Yeah, figures. I'm glad it's me though." Leaning down, Pepper captured his lips with hers and kissed him again. It was gentler and loving and her heart pounded strongly in her chest as Tony's warm hands wandered up her back, stroking it in large, soothing strokes as he kissed her back.

"I want to move in with you," Pepper said once she'd pulled away and smiled at him, almost beaming with happiness.

Tony smiled up at her. "Great. Let's christen your new bedroom."

And with a giggle, Pepper let Tony take her up into their bedroom.


End file.
